The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
President Obama takes a question from reporters about the shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Before signing a bill that will better protect veterans and their families, President Obama took a question from reporters about Sunday's shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Though he urged caution against assumptions while the investigations unfold, the President also spoke about the need for Americans to come together as one people in this time of tragedy.
"If it turns out, as some early reports indicate, that it may have been motivated in some way by the ethnicity of those who were attending the temple," he said, "I think the American people immediately recoil against those kinds of attitudes, and I think it will be very important for us to reaffirm once again that, in this country, regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we are all one people, and we look after one another and we respect one another."
This afternoon, he also issued a proclamation mandating that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff at the White House and at all public buildings and grounds until sunset on August 10.
